1. For me will be great help if you can provide me the guide, The main porpoise of purchasing this device was having a way to connect to the internet in a anonymous way and secure, there are many free internet ssh servers that can provide you this service. (https://www.fastssh.com/). Regarding the VPN are several issues, one is to have a real IP address with a server that can accommodate VPN service.
    Regarding the speed by installing openssh-client and running
    ssh user_name@ssh.server -p port -vND 127.0.0.1:1080 I achieved even 50mbps with a good connection to the internet.
    I think in the future a sshproxy interface to be available for installing for all routers (even if it is not available for stock firmware) will be great help for thous as me.
  2. The older firmware is smaller and it is cleaner, no china proxy servers or other stuff.